Activists brought an iceberg to COP26 to show the Arctic’s importance to the global climate

"We felt that negotiators here had to actually come face to face with the Arctic so we brought the iceberg."

Climate activists are sending a 4,000 kilogram reminder to world leaders at COP26, the Glasgow Climate Change summit — an iceberg shipped in from Greenland via Iceland to the east coast of England by a scientific activist group to highlight the importance of Arctic ice to global weather systems.

Professor Gail Whiteman is the Founder of Arctic Basecamp.

“So, all science indications are showing that the Arctic is in crisis and that’s not just bad news for the polar bear, that’s bad news for countries and societies everywhere because the Arctic is one of the major circulation systems of the planet and can amplify global warming significantly. Studies are showing that if we lose the snow and ice in the Arctic we will amplify global warming by 25 to 40 percent. So it is one eco-region that packs a big punch and we felt that negotiators here had to actually come face to face with the Arctic so we brought the iceberg.”

As negotiators try to reach a deal to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius in meeting rooms nearby, icebergs are still melting.

And Arctic Basecamp wants to visually show them what’s at stake.

“70 million of these bottles a second are melting off the Greenland ice sheet, based on the research that’s been done. And what else can we say? This is a bottled warning and they can’t ignore this so that’s why we’ve brought the iceberg and the water to Glasgow.”

That’s quite some message in a bottle.